


On words and bonds

by Jverse



Series: Training trio week 2018 [1]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hope's Peak AU, Training trio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-28 02:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15038546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jverse/pseuds/Jverse
Summary: In order to help and encourage Maki with a personal determination she made since the bond the three of them share got stronger, Shuichi takes Kaito to a certain place to complete a plan they've built together. A new idea comes while doing that, and improvisation makes things better than they would expect.





	On words and bonds

"Wow, Shuichi, this is enormous! It's almost like a secret base!"

The loud voice of the astronaut echoed through the wide room, reverberating between the many shelves like a potent breeze, as he was almost pulling a small jump from his position. The detective couldn't contain a laugh, seeing the excited reaction of his dear friend upon entering the basement and putting the lights on. For him, this scenery was quite normal, a comfortable place so familiar to him. But for Kaito it felt the contrary, more like a special place directly ripped off from one of his many fantasies. And even if the astronaut was willing to run and get himself lost across the mentioned shelves, Shuichi warned him first.

"Remember that I don't own this place... Take things in a lighter way, Momota-kun. This is my uncle's most special place, and he trusted me on trusting you, after all."

The large room that conformed the aforementioned basement was basically a vast library, located like a secret place just below Saihara's uncle detective office, and found through a hidden set of stairs. It sounded excessively fancy, like something you can find at a noir novel or film, but it seems that these type of manias translate to real detectives too. As one of the purest literature fans you could meet, this was his uncle's relaxation stronghold, where he could archive any book that caught his interest and curiosity at least once. And that perk was pretty big, considering that here lied more than twenty thousand exemplars compiled in a bunch of shelves that had the material organized by genres. It isn't like the detective could read that many books, but he couldn't help on collecting them, and when he needed focus or inspiration for his cases, he would come here and search for a specific title that could give a new light to his reasoning. He was the kind of man that, while used to work within the most crude version of reality day after day, enjoyed looking to the many fantasies and stories that the art of word could provide, while also acculturating himself. That refined taste for fiction was something that Saihara inherited somehow, and also cultivated by expending time with his dear uncle: not so many people knew about or even visited this place, but as having to take care of him from time to time since he was almost a child, the man tried to share his hobby with the now younger detective, who was kind of following the uncle's steps in his own way.

"No wonder that you like books that much, bro! I could get lost around this place for days... I bet you used to read a lot of these when you were a kid, hey?" Kaito asked, his head turning around constantly, scanning the place with a still amazed look.

"It's big, but it's not infinite! But you have a point here, Momota-kun. It was my uncle, the one who encouraged me to start reading when I was a little. This place looked magnanimous for me back then, but he always shared his favorite books with me. I got invested on reading so quick. B-But even if I passed a lot of time here, I would need more than a life to read his entire collection! It doesn't stop growing." Just giving some explanations got Shuichi a bit nostalgic. He thought about those shared moments with his uncle, which seemed fleeting because he usually left the little boy with a bunch of books and a comfy armchair while he was doing office work. He absorbed many stories, traveling to the worlds that many words could offer and honing his general perception of reality with what they had to tell to him. When he grew up, he got closer to his uncle, passing more time with him as an assistant than with the books, but at the same time he developed a refined taste on literature and enjoyed his selected to read pieces with more intensity.

"As you're used to these buddies since you were a kid, I'm sure that you'll do an awesome job on choosing the most suitable books for our mission. That's a sidekick's job here!" The astronaut giggled, offering a thumbs up while examining a specific shelf. _Adventure_ , of course, a word that was very reminiscent of Momota for those who decided to pay attention to the bunch of words he can shoot daily. "Oh! Your uncle even has some adventure manga! I can see he's a man of refined taste. Yes, yes, these are more than good..."

As he tried to sound like an expert, Shuichi remained thoughtful, crossing his arms and looking rather serious. "I knew you would like these. He's not that fan of manga but of course can't look away at what he calls _essential gems_. But Momota-kun! These go more according to your interests than to our task... Don't you think?" Kaito turned, already having an open volume over his right hand, and then mid-smiled, looking at his sidekick with trusting eyes. "I missed this volume when I was a kid, and now it's my opportunity to know the ending to the story I was forced to drop when I was a kid! It's clear that you're on the same wave as me for this job, so I'll let you choose the titles we're taking with us!" Shuichi almost sighed, not in disbelief, as this was very Momota like. Once again, he was going to do whatever he pleased, like a little kid enjoying a candy, and leaving the true duties to his sidekicks. But he thought he also had a point. As knowing about books, and about this place far more than his friend, Shuichi could get on the best titles for their needs. He ended up shaking his head and turning, walking to a different shelf. "... Okay. I'll let you check this area, when you finish reading that volume. I'm having some ideas already, need to check them quick. Leave it to me!" The astronaut nodded firmly, eyes rolling to the side in a second on confirmation to support him, and returned as fast as a shooting star to read the comic. Walking away, Shuichi started to look around.

Across the many shelves, the detective was thinking about his childhood, about the stories he enjoyed the most while sitting over that armchair. Those powerful reads that made his mind to fly and imagine many worlds, with colorful and boldly defined characters that were not only easy to understand, as to admire, relate and feel for their actions. As growing, his tastes changed progressively, and that type of stories were left back as a precious moment in his memory. That's how he ended up standing in front of the _fantasy_ shelf, looking around to search for familiar names. It wasn't as if he didn't like this genre now, but he was more inclined to more mature and even darker tales around it, compared to the simpler, flashy tales he enjoyed as a kid. After grabbing a couple of the aforementioned books, their titles made him to smile fondly, and then he looked back to fixate over Momota for a moment. Surely, these would be the kind of stories that the astronaut would narrate to him and Harukawa in a burst of inspiration, posing himself as the protagonist. Easy to understand and quite enjoyable on their way. "They're perfect. I never imagined I would grab any of these again..." Caressing the cover of the one he held the best memories for, he looked up and took his time to do a pretty considerate selection, grabbing like a dozen of titles. "And even if it's a little dishonest, I don't think my uncle will miss these anymore."

At the same time, Kaito was almost dropping his jaw while reading his beloved unknown volume, his eyes brightening with a special glimpse of light as getting quite deep into the finale. As looking at the last page, and closing a fist to contain his urges to shout something, the voice of his friend forced him to return to reality. "I'll admit that it wasn't a long wait, but you took your time, Momota-kun. Don't you want to do any selection?" The taller boy turned, closing the volume firmly and shaking it over the air, looking at the detective who was carrying a little pile of books. "Are you kidding me?! The ending was a blast! This author knows how to encourage his readers. That's totally what I would do if I decided to draw! But you know, Shuichi, the Luminary of the Stars has other kind of duties. Communication, that's why we're here." As he was trying to sound wise, Shuichi walked nearer to him, trying to contain a chuckle. "It's important, yes. That's why I'm still wondering, and repeating... Didn't you want to do a selection?" Sometimes, the astronaut seemed to digress from the main topic quite hard, and while repeating his inquire, the astronaut returned the volume cautiously to the collection, and pulled a quite heroic stance, holding his hips. "Shuichi, no need to say it twice. You see, your duty was to do a selection. I trusted you with that task! And I can already see that you did it well! Besides, someone like me doesn't need to get support on any book for our mission... Don't you think that the many brave tales of Kaito Momota could be enough to fill a bunch of these volumes?" As he was smiling proudly, the detective got quiet, offering a confused expression. "W-Well..."

Then, Momota approached, tapping the back of his friend more than a couple of times, so firmly that Shuichi felt like the pile of books was almost going to fall down. He couldn't respond as quickly as desired, as the energetic boy was already talking. "I had an idea I wanted to tell you, but not before looking at your selection! Now, you'll understand why I won't do any reading myself. It's no needed when you have the passion needed to go up above the stars!" That said, Shuichi thought on some things like _but you didn't even look at the books I've grabbed_ , or _I don't grasp anything of what you're trying to say here, even if I'm a detective_ , but instead, he turned, looking at how he was getting away, returning to the library's exit. "C'mon, we can't waste any more time, there are still some preparations waiting to be done. It's early in the morning, but it would be perfect if we can pull it before lunch, isn't it Shuichi? Let's go!"

With an attitude as decided and vibrant like Momota was wielding right now, there was small room for discussion. He wondered about his idea, and if it would be really well suited for their plan, but... Better hear it first. After all, he always found a precious time while hanging around him and Harukawa. "Ok! Ok! I'll listen, and... Wait, grab the books, I need to close the secret basement!"

Later on the same day, Maki Harukawa was pretty busy finishing her assigned laundry turn for the youngest one's clothes at her orphanage. Since a few months ago, she decided on expending some of her free time during weekends to come and help the place where she grew up again. As being the Ultimate Assassin, a title she wasn't proud of having and wanting to throw it away in the depths of her heart, she was experiencing a messy amount of contradictory feelings. At a turning point of her life, she was educated into being a cold, almost perfect dehumanized machine made for killing, but that always clashed with her real desires, tied to not only her own personality, as to the bonds and memories she acquired at this orphanage. These many good feelings she experienced while living her life as an orphan were suppressed by her own self-loathing, her untold fear of being who she wished to be while being involved into that cruel spiral of death and grief. She didn't think she deserved to feel like a normal person, to live like them, too, the culpability of her acts pressing against her shoulders, burning through her head every time. But once she got the opportunity of attending Hope's Peak Academy, some things started to slowly change. While meeting that pretty reckless guy being called the Ultimate Astronaut and that reserved guy too, the Ultimate Detective, things started to turn into another shade again. While starting to train with them by a pure fateful chance, and developing their bonds, she slowly tried to accept that perhaps she could allow herself to feel friendship again. And when that gate was opened, many chances appeared to start, slowly, step by step and with a lot of deep thought within, tending to accept many other feelings that waited for their moment inside her heart. So, as she wished to become the person who lied in the shadow of self-loathing, she ended up deciding that perhaps trying to get invested in that Ultimate Child Caregiver title and return from time to time to her orphanage to provide them with her help and skills would be a good way to start parting ways from the path of blood she was detesting one day after another. That's why she was here early on Sunday, trying to help on whatever she could do, trying to take care of many little orphans that were in the situation she was once, and giving herself a glimpse of light while she was spreading the same amongst them, even if sometimes she could get pretty rude and brash on her acts...

That's how the current Maki was growing to be, and she was starting to feel more than good with it. Thinking about her duties straight, she grabbed the basket with the laundry and prepared to go for the next task. That's when another of the orphanage workers approached to her, and talked with a very comfortable tone, despite her not knowing about the surprise. "Hey, Harukawa, you should take a moment to check on the group of activity's second turn. Your friends came and I think they're doing a pretty good job. You had a nice idea!" She raised an eyebrow, standing there coldly, and already imagining both Kaito and Shuichi doing something weird. Why were they here?! She wasn't knowing anything about this! She felt like infuriating again, but she held her own feelings and nodded, passing the basket to the other worker. "I... see. Can you finish this for me? I'll return in a moment. I think I should... say hello, at least." Or punch them, whatever comes first. Again, they seemed to get their noses into her job without being called for it.

"Ooooohh!"

As the child caregiver was almost going to get into the room where these two idiots seemed to be messing with the kids of the second turn, she could hear the surprised shouts of those little ones. Already clenching her fists, she opened the door with almost a slam, entering with not only an angry expression, as a reddish killing stare.

"And the brave knight walked for the entire day across the paths of the kingdom, going far away from the citadel while following the queen's request. No one decided to join him in his resolution, and hence, he needed to stop near the limits of the eerie woods, preparing a bonfire to protect himself from the cold breeze of the night... Getting up, he wielded his renewed sword, its edge brightening with the moonlight reflection, as he tried to encourage himself about his resolution..."

Shuichi was narrating the story from a book while sitting over a chair, with measured rhythm and tone, seemingly catching the attention of a myriad of many little eyes. The kids were sitting all together, forming almost a circle around the narrator, as captivated by the story, and leaving enough space in the center for... that idiot. Kaito was posing like the star of the show, offering a fresh, determined expression while holding a toy sword like the real deal, now rising it up over the air and shouting like a proud actor. "That's it! Despite what everyone at the city thinks... Even if fate decides that I must walk this path alone, I'll offer my sword with determination. Not even a curse will escape the sharp edge of justice!"

As the kids seemed to burst in a cheering for Kaito, both guys smiled, and Shuichi started to turn into the next page, still not noticing Harukawa standing there. She was almost containing her surprise, softening her muscles a bit as she turned from anger to confusion as fast as a blink. "W-What are you two doing with the kids...?" And, as those words went just after the effusive cheering, almost everyone turned, both guys looking at Maki without saying anything, as some of the kids called for her as their beloved _big sister_ , a curious fact that made her cheeks to redden a little.

"Oh! Look, seems that fate is smiling at me!" Kaito shouted, dramatically. "I've heard the rumors about you... The noble knight with an armor as red as her eyes, Harumaki!" Turning, he didn't only grab another toy sword, as jumping from the circle and grabbing her from the wrist, as Harukawa couldn't react in time to flee from the catch. "Of course you couldn't look away at the curse of the woods. If we bring our swords together, it's assured that we'll triumph! No monster will be able to surpass the strength of teamwork!" As he was pulling her inside the circle, he put the second sword over her other hand, and almost raised her holding hand too to make their swords to from a cross over the air, in an exaggerated, brave posture. "M-Momota! What do you think you're...?"

As the girl was talking, Momota turned to look at Shuichi for a moment, who was really confused about his improvisation. The tale wasn't telling anything about a red knight, or even about teamwork. Supposedly, this was the tale of an only brave, justified knight who faced a curse over the kingdom alone. The kind of basic and somewhat cliché adventure you find in a storybook for children, filled with many metaphors and morals. But teamwork... that was one of the core definitions of the bond the three of them shared. He only needed to think about it for a moment to start forming something, and as his own ideas seemed to merge with the written words over the paper, he smiled fondly, nodding and returning to his narration.

"Ahem. With a renewed willpower, the purple knight thanked lady luck for her intervention. Now, the strongest wandering knight around the kingdom, with many legends at her back, was partnering with him for the same noble cause. Even if the night offered a dark look around, there was a powerful light in their determination, and inspired by the flames of the bonfire, they both decided to not waste any time on resting. It was the red knight, the one who encouraged our brave hero to believe that they wouldn't fail even if the sun wasn't shining over the sky..."

As Shuichi finished narrating that part, Kaito awaited with an excited, impatient expression, looking at Maki. She turned around to see Shuichi almost chuckling, and the many little kids looking at her amazed, while she held the toy sword, thinking that their big sister looked like the coolest person in the world, the mighty legend of the red knight. The girl looked down for a moment, before realizing what she was going to do, convincing herself that this... wasn't bad at all. In fact, she found a warm impulse over her chest, something that made her look directly at Momota's eyes with a sharp, bold initiative.

"I... I knew that our paths would cross, as I had the opportunity to exchange some words with that tricky man, the blue wizard." That improvisation catched the detective by surprise, eyes looking up now at his friends, also fixating on how Kaito was grinning fondly, enjoying her performance. "He told me that the stars would align tonight as a sign of our partnership forming. We won't lose any power. But... Don't hold anything back and keep yourself alert. I know the woods more than you would imagine, and the perils are many." Raising an eyebrow, and holding her sword pointing at him firmly, Maki was the one smiling confidently, like almost challenging Momota with both her stare and looks. "I hope your sword doesn't turn into another thing to protect, because I won't hesitate on walking away."

Certainly, she hit the big spot, with an explosive Momota shaking his sword around and bragging about his supposed skills. With both their words, the kids started to laugh, very excited to know about their adventures, as told by that mysterious, gentle wizard that was sitting behind, supporting his friends with the same will they held.

"Who do you think I am?! I'll show you that my sword can cut even the skies! No villain will escape my... Our justice! No more words needed, let's go, red knight!"

After the performance ended and some hours later, the three of them found themselves sitting around the orphanage's yard, eating lunch together. The sun shined brightly and a decent breeze welcomed them. While doing this, they felt like enjoying a sweet summer day. Maki, between both of them, rolled her eyes from side to side, to see how both guys were assaulting their bento boxes with relentless intent. They didn't seem tired at all, but they also looked like having worked hard, for some reason. A petite small crossed through her lips.

"I must admit that I was prepared to punch the both of your idiotic faces. I told you I didn't want you to get too involved in my decision. But, as always, you end up doing whatever you want..."

After that small lecture, the astronaut was almost going to shout something outside, but Maki didn't even give him the time to do so, looking at them both with a softer stare.

"But, at the same time, I must admit that this felt quite... nice, too. Not only because the orphanage needed more new books. That performance... the looks of the kids were priceless..."

"Don't worry that much, Harumaki! It was Shuichi's idea, when you mentioned you wanted to go around the city and buy some books for the kids. You would be impressed with his uncle's library! He even had things I wanted to read for so many years, hehe!"

 _Not that they were things too hard to find, first of all_. Shuichi thought, as Kaito seemed to digress again, but quickly, he lend him a hand. "To be honest, as you seemed to be searching for new ways to both educate and entertain the younger orphans... Momota-kun wanted to come and start telling them about his many stories and adventures. I just tried to give that idea a deeper look and, well, it's true that my uncle has a very vast collection of books. He won't miss these, your orphanage can keep them, Harukawa-san."

Maki finished munching a small bunch of rice and then looked back at the astronaut, who seemed pretty proud about their idea. "... That's really appreciated, Shuichi. And I'm sure that you idiot couldn't keep yourself standing still, and came up with the idea of interpreting Shuichi's narration."

Kaito felt judged just by looking at her intense stare, but at the same time, it wasn't a menacing statement. Something was brightening through those red orbs, and he was more than comfortable with it. "You know that one of my objectives is to polish my communication skills! Kids are special, they learn from everything, and it's important to find a way to properly express the best ideas for them! You must admit that my performance amazed them and... Hey, Harumaki, you did a splendid work, too!"

"Don't feel that proud on that. I think you overacted a bit..." She returned, her cheeks pouting slightly while looking at her bento box. At the same time, Shuichi started to laugh freely, nodding at the both of them.

"I think you two did pretty well. You were the mightiest warriors the kingdom could've asked for! I thought I was going to fail on my improvisation, but your energy kept me on point."

Kaito raised a thumbs up for Shuichi, as looking at his two friends with a powerful grin. "You too, Shuichi! The kids were so caught up by your narration, it seems that you're a natural storyteller."

"He's right on that. I think the kingdom also had a wise wizard who could tell them about the tale with precise detail..."

At the end, the three friends started to laugh lightly, together. While thinking on what happened, on how they were talking with this passion about what seemed a simple gesture just by looking, but something with an enormous meaning for her objectives on a personal take, Maki didn't even think about feeling bad. She felt lucky for having two friends like them, and this time, the shadow of culpability wouldn't try to dispose of it. On a sincere gesture, she opened her hands and grabbed one of each of them, pressing them tightly.

"... Thank you. I know what I said before, trying to make you stay away from this. And you knew this was important for me, even if I'm still... trying to give my best on expressing it. Just... Thank you, guys."

As Maki closed her eyes, holding their hands, the two guys looked at her with a serious expression. Two genuine smiles were drawn over their faces, soon returning the hand holding with the same tight grip.

"I told you to don't worry, Harumaki. A hero never abandons his sidekicks! And you also have a bunch of them for yourself at the orphanage... Of course we're going to help you on that! We'll think on more ideas to help those kids!"

"That's the meaning of friendship, isn't it? There's no way we're going to look away, Harukawa-san. And admittedly, this was funnier than one could imagine. Let's try to work into an even better idea next time, okay?"

Leaning over her while responding to her gratitude, detective and astronaut embraced her into a group hug. In the middle of that caring gesture, Maki's chest felt full, feeling happiness without any chains attached to her heart, while holding their backs with her own hands, and showing a smile as intense and sincere as theirs.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a piece for the Training trio week 2018 event held at Twitter, you can take a peek at it at @training_trio. I want to thank the mod for organizing this great event that has many awesome contributions from talented people!
> 
> This piece belongs to Day 3 and the chosen prompt was "reading". I wanted to focus on the boys helping Harumaki on working about her resolve on trying to change her personal situation.


End file.
